What cooling is needed to overclock the G3258 to 4.5GHz?

[Hardball]

Thinking about building a cheap rig around the Intel Pentium G3258 and I was wondering what type of cooling is required to reach the 4.5-4.7GHz levels being reported for this chip.

 

[DrMrLordX]

According to many users, you can hit 4.5ghz with the supplied HSF, assuming your case has decent airflow otherwise. Going higher is going to need a better HSF and/or a delid/relid operation.

 

[dbcooper1]

Mine runs 4.5GHz at 1.22v, mid 60s loaded with the stock cooler but I don't have it in a case yet.

 

[cbn]

Stock cooling should be fine for 4.5 Ghz provided you got a good enough sample and your case has good airflow. (My own 3258 has been stability tested at 4.6 Ghz with the stock cooler in an open air environment)

EDIT: The above figures are for a set-up using a discrete video card.

P.S. Intel provides a cooler rated at 95 watts with the Pentium 3258:

http://www.legitreviews.com/intel-pentium-g3258-processor-review-quest-5ghz_145874

(Pentium G3258 cooler)

http://extremespec.net/intel-pentium-g3220-review-testing-performance/

(Pentium G3220 cooler. I believe the Core i3 processors also get this same cooler)

 

[Madpacket]

Just go with the stock cooler, I'm at 4.5Ghz at 1.275 volts and it cools it just fine. If you buy an aftermarket cooler you're basically throwing the value proposition of this CPU out the window.

 

[AkumaX]

They say around 4.2GHz-4.3GHz w/ the stock cooler + stock voltage.

What's the default voltage on these things anyway?

 

[cbn]

Another post from person besides myself who got 4.6 Ghz prime stable with the stock cooler:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=36517078&postcount=20

Ok here's some preliminary testing of my G3258 tonight on stock cooling. I was able to hit 4.6 ghz prime stable but the temps were getting a little toasty. I backed off to 4.5 @ 1.25 vcore and will run p95 overnight. My Killawatt under p95 is measuring 82 watts, I'm using an EVGA 600W 80+ power supply (not the most efficient).

I think what you can takeaway is even with the stock heatsink/fan you'll be able to turn these up to 11. Aftermarket cooling will be necessary to go beyond 4.5/6ghz.

Not bad for a 70 dollars processor

 

[know of fence]

Just go with the stock cooler, I'm at 4.5Ghz at 1.275 volts and it cools it just fine. If you buy an aftermarket cooler you're basically throwing the value proposition of this CPU out the window.

You are also missing out on one of the best discoveries of the last decade, to save 30-40 bucks. Heatpipes have up to 90 times the thermal conductivity of solid copper. But if you don't mind sitting to a leaf blower like in the Athlon64 and Pentium 4 days, go ahead. Ah yes you'll also be running hotter, less stable and consuming more power.

The worst part is this stock garbage is built into every Office PC out there, just to save the Dell/HP/No-name-brand's bottom line, when every PCs could be quiet by now. It's even hard to buy a bulk-cpu without the cooler, and often it's more expensive, just because it doesn't sell like the boxed version.

 

[cbn]

You are also missing out on one of the best discoveries of the last decade, to save 30-40 bucks. Heatpipes have up to 90 times the thermal conductivity of solid copper. But if you don't mind sitting to a leaf blower like in the Athlon64 and Pentium 4 days, go ahead. Ah yes you'll also be running hotter, less stable and consuming more power.

The worst part is this stock garbage is built into every Office PC out there, just to save the Dell/HP/No-name-brand's bottom line, when every PCs could be quiet by now. It's even hard to buy a bulk-cpu without the cooler, and often it's more expensive, just because it doesn't sell like the boxed version.

The stock cooler is actually pretty quiet.

In fact, when I play Battlefield 3 64 player at 4.6 Ghz (1.3 volts) using the stock cooler I notice my temps (measured by Speed fan 4.49) barely go over 60 degrees Celcius. (About 10 degrees lower than my Prime 95 stability test temps)

 

[crashtech]

Heat pipes have been around for a long time, but aside from that, we are talking about an El Cheapo system here, so the fact that the stock cooler can be used (at least at first) is a real plus, imo. It's not rational to disparage the use of the stock cooler on this kind of budget setup.

 

[cbn]

Heat pipes have been around for a long time, but aside from that, we are talking about an El Cheapo system here, so the fact that the stock cooler can be used (at least at first) is a real plus, imo. It's not rational to disparage the use of the stock cooler on this kind of budget setup.

This is especially true when we look at the relatively modest power consumption increases (OC vs. stock) in the Anandtech Pentium-AE review:

Scroll down to bottom of this page --> http://home.anandtech.com/show/8232...ary-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae

Stock system power: 93 watts
OC to 4.5 Ghz : 117 watts
OC to 4.6 Ghz: 122 watts

Going from stock to 4.5 Ghz increased power consumption (measured at the wall) by 24 watts.

Going from stock to 4.6 Ghz increased power consumption (measured at the wall) by 29 watts.

 

[NTMBK]

Yeah, as long as you don't try to eke those last couple of 100MHz out of this, the stock cooler should be plenty.

 

[toyota]

This is especially true when we look at the relatively modest power consumption increases (OC vs. stock) in the Anandtech Pentium-AE review:

Scroll down to bottom of this page --> http://home.anandtech.com/show/8232...ary-edition-review-the-intel-pentium-g3258-ae

Stock system power: 93 watts
OC to 4.5 Ghz : 117 watts
OC to 4.6 Ghz: 122 watts

Going from stock to 4.5 Ghz increased power consumption (measured at the wall) by 24 watts.

Going from stock to 4.6 Ghz increased power consumption (measured at the wall) by 29 watts.

you do realize thats over a 30% increase in system power increase just from the cpu oc. considering the cpu itself was only about 50 watts of the stock 93 watt system load that means the cpu itself just went up 60% in power usage.

 

[ElFenix]

how many threads are we going to have on this one processor?

(Pentium G3220 cooler. I believe the Core i3 processors also get this same cooler)

my sandy i3 came with a copper bottom cooler, fwiw

 

[jpiniero]

you do realize thats over a 30% increase in system power increase just from the cpu oc. considering the cpu itself was only about 50 watts of the stock 93 watt system load that means the cpu itself just went up 60% in power usage.

A 60% increase in power for 40% increase in frequency is quite good actually.

 

[toyota]

A 60% increase in power for 40% increase in frequency is quite good actually.

point was that its 60% more power usage that the stock cooler has to deal with.

 

[cbn]

point was that its 60% more power usage that the stock cooler has to deal with.

But a 95 watt HSF can dissipate 79% more energy than a 53 watt HSF.

 

[know of fence]

It's not rational to disparage the use of the stock cooler on this kind of budget setup.

Then again there are a lot of people who mistake balance sheet musings for rationality. But you can't put a price on an environment that isn't noisy, and it's hard to project little savings over time unto an uncertain future.

I really think heat-pipe coolers are the bee's knees,the golden middle, a brilliant feat and so forth and I suspect that people are wrongfully sceptical about them, because they think that heat-pipes are just another marketing fraud. But far from it, you've got the famed Cooler Master 212 Evo that due to massive demand was able to push the price to 30 EUR/USD, with 4 direct to die heat pipes there is great value, but even cheaper ones (from say Scythe) are an improvement over stock in my experience.

Other solutions produce more noise and don't actually save power because of dual and triple fans and pumps, even though they may allow for even lower temperatures.

 

[richierich1212]

Stock heatsink that came with G3258 is sufficient.

 

[Techhog]

You are also missing out on one of the best discoveries of the last decade, to save 30-40 bucks. Heatpipes have up to 90 times the thermal conductivity of solid copper. But if you don't mind sitting to a leaf blower like in the Athlon64 and Pentium 4 days, go ahead. Ah yes you'll also be running hotter, less stable and consuming more power.

The worst part is this stock garbage is built into every Office PC out there, just to save the Dell/HP/No-name-brand's bottom line, when every PCs could be quiet by now. It's even hard to buy a bulk-cpu without the cooler, and often it's more expensive, just because it doesn't sell like the boxed version.

If you're going to spend an extra $30-40, you might as well buy an i3.

 

[cbn]

If you're going to spend an extra $30-40, you might as well buy an i3.

The i3 used in the Anandtech and Tom's 3258 review was a lot more expensive than $30 to $40.

Core i3-4330:
$140 at Newegg
$137 at Amazon
$140 at Tiger Direct

Pentium G3258:
$75 at Newegg
$69 at Amazon
$75 at Tiger Direct

 

[Techhog]

The i3 used in the Anandtech and Tom's 3258 review was a lot more expensive than $30 to $40.

Core i3-4330:
$140 at Newegg
$137 at Amazon
$140 at Tiger Direct

Pentium G3258:
$75 at Newegg
$69 at Amazon
$75 at Tiger Direct

The cheapest i3 is $115 though. I guess whether or not you're able to get one of the non-Z boards to OC it is a factor too

 

[cbn]

The cheapest i3 is $115 though. I guess whether or not you're able to get one of the non-Z boards to OC it is a factor too

But how well does a 3MB cache Haswell i3-4130 compete against an OC Pentium G3258?

I have yet to see a review site test anything less than 4MB Haswell i3 except for this one:

https://translate.google.com/transl...sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl/art57691.html

Here are some results where OC 3258 beat the 3MB i3-4150:

NOTE: I did not include all gaming results. In some cases 3MB cache i3 did beat OC 3258.

P.S. Some Prices for i3-4130:

Newegg for $112.50 (thanks to a coupon code that expires today)
Amazon price is $120
Tiger Direct is $125

 

[Techhog]

But how well does a 3MB cache Haswell i3-4130 compete against an OC Pentium G3258?

I have yet to see a review site test anything less than 4MB Haswell i3 except for this one:

https://translate.google.com/transl...sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://pclab.pl/art57691.html

Here are some results where OC 3258 beat the 3MB i3-4150:

P.S. Some Prices for i3-4130:

Newegg for $112.50 (thanks to a coupon code that expires today)
Amazon price is $120
Tiger Direct is $125

Well, that's assuming you can get to 4.7. I guess you have a point though.

If you can't get non-Z OC board, however, that becomes irrelevant.

 

[cbn]

Well, that's assuming you can get to 4.7. I guess you have a point though.

If you can't get non-Z OC board, however, that becomes irrelevant.

1.) Maybe instead of 4.7 Ghz 3258 vs i3-4150....

4.5 Ghz 3258 vs. i3-4130 could be compared instead?

2.) Regarding Non-Z overclock boards, Unfortunately it looks like the Gigabyte H81 and B85s I have seen are limited to 1.2 volts (limiting the best 3258 OC I have seen so far to 4.39 Ghz). Fortunately, other budget boards are able to hit the full 4.5 Ghz though.